ICT Officer - Geospatial Data Engineer

The UNOPS Global Portfolios Office (GPO) brings together diverse expertise to help partners deliver impact worldwide. With hubs in New York, Geneva, and Vienna, and expert teams operating globally, GPO leads multi-regional initiatives that advance sustainable development, climate action, and peacebuilding - including in some of the world’s most challenging environments. By leveraging our collective expertise and global networks, GPO supports UNOPS’ strategic priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals across more than 130 countries. We work closely with major global partners - including governments, international financial institutions, and UN agencies - to deliver a wide range of services, such as project management, fund management, hosting services, and HR support.

Not Required - part of GPO/NYPO

The Department of Operational Support (DOS) is responsible for the delivery and maintenance of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure, systems and software applications in support of the operational requirements of Peacekeeping Missions, Special Political Missions, as well as Department of Peace Operations (DPO) and DOS at Headquarters.

ICT is one of the fundamental components that enable substantive work of field missions. Timely and secure communications and information exchange within and between UN Peacekeeping Missions and Headquarters is critical to meet the core strategic, operational and tactical mandate of the United Nations. It is of paramount importance that robust, fault tolerant and scalable ICT infrastructure is in place to maintain operations in the event of natural or manmade disasters, disruption in the theatre of operation, or as Security Council mandates change.

The Service for Geospatial, Information and Telecommunications Technologies (SGITT) at the Unite Nations Global Service Center (UNGSC) provides a critical role as the as the resilient operational hub for the support and delivery of technology services and solutions to field operations and a broad range of Secretariat and United Nations system clients. As a unified, singular service provider, SGITT provides reliable, resilient and innovative, geospatial, communications and information technology services, including centralized connectivity, hosting and monitoring support, ensuring that staff members in field missions and at Headquarters have access to critical enterprise systems.

UNOPS has signed a financial Agreement with UNGSC to Technical Support for Groundwater Exploration, Geophysical Surveys, Existing Wells Assessments and Rehabilitation, Remote Groundwater Monitoring and Geospatial Analyses and support field missions on specific complex geospatial analyses and geophysical surveys which require skills and experience.

The ICT Officer – Geospatial Data Engineer will carry out his/her tasks within the United Nations Global Service Centre (UNGSC)/Geospatial, Information and Telecommunication Technologies Service (SGITT)/Client Solution Delivery Section (CSDS).

The position forms part of the Geospatial Remote Mission Support Service (GRMSS), a centrally managed remote support framework delivering geospatial data products, maps, geo-analytics, imagery analysis, and operational geospatial services to field missions globally.

Under the overall supervision of UNOPS Senior Programme Manager, the incumbent will work under the guidance of Chief of Data Management Unit (DMU) or a designated officer and be responsible for providing data management services.

The incumbent of this position will be a personnel of UNOPS under its full responsibility.

The purpose of this role is to provide timely, accurate, and reliable geospatial data management services to support UN field missions and headquarters. The incumbent ensures that geospatial data management processes, standards, and tools are applied consistently to support data quality, accessibility, interoperability, and governance, while aligning all activities with UNGSC business objectives and applicable UN policies, rules, and regulations. This role supports the coordinated delivery of geospatial data services across global locations and operational contexts.

Summary of Key Functions:

Functional Responsibilities:

The personnel will be responsible for the following duties:

1. Analysis

2. Innovation

3. Coordination

4. Quality Control

1. Analysis

• Develops and delivers geospatial data management services to support UN peacekeeping, political, and humanitarian operations through standardized data management and integration workflows.
• Assists in managing the collection, validation, harmonization, transformation, and maintenance of vector, raster, imagery, authoritative and operational geospatial datasets from multiple sources and environments.
• Supports the implementation and maintenance of enterprise geospatial data models, standards, schemas, metadata, and governance frameworks to ensure interoperability and consistency across missions and platforms.
• Supports the management of geospatial data pipelines and automated workflows for data ingestion, processing, synchronization, publication, and distribution across centralized and mission environments.
• Ensures the integration of multi-source geospatial and operational data, including satellite imagery, UAV data, IoT feeds, operational datasets, and open-source information into enterprise geospatial systems.
• Assists in maintaining and administering geospatial repositories(data lakes/lakehouses), services, and catalogues to support data discoverability, accessibility, lifecycle management, and operational readiness.
• Supports data preparation, structuring, and optimization activities required for operational dashboards, situational awareness platforms, mapping services, and analytical applications.
• Implements data governance, stewardship, and access control procedures to ensure compliance with UN policies, security requirements, and operational standards

2. Innovation

• Contributes to the development and applies innovative geospatial data management methodologies, automation tools, and scalable workflows to improve data integration, quality, accessibility, and operational efficiency.
• Implements and optimizes ETL/ELT workflows and data integration pipelines to enable efficient, automated, and scalable data processing for enterprise and mission environments.
• Integrates multi-source and multi-format datasets into reproducible and standardized data management environments, ensuring proper documentation, versioning, and traceability.
• Leverages emerging geospatial technologies, cloud-based platforms, and automation capabilities to improve enterprise geospatial data services and operational support.
• Supports the implementation of modern geospatial data architectures, interoperability frameworks, APIs, and service-oriented solutions to enable efficient data exchange and reuse

Coordination

• Coordinate with clients and stakeholders to translate operational needs into short- and medium-term data management requirements.
• Ensure effective collaboration across technical and operational teams.

4. Quality Control and Reporting

• Implements and enforces data quality management frameworks, including validation rules, monitoring mechanisms, and data quality indicators (e.g., accuracy, completeness, timeliness, consistency).
• Contributes to the production and maintenance of high-quality geospatial data products, metadata records, documentation, operational datasets, and reporting outputs using ESRI and related geospatial tools.
• Monitors and troubleshoots data pipelines and datasets to ensure data integrity, reliability, and operational continuity.
• Apply data quality control, validation, and standardization procedures to ensure compliance with enterprise geospatial standards and governance frameworks.
• Helps in ensuring compliance with UN standards, operational requirements, information management protocols, and geospatial data governance policies.

Perform other duties as may be reasonably required and in line with the incumbent’s scope of services.

Required

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) preferably in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Engineering, Information Systems, Geospatial Information Systems (GIS), or a closely related field with 0 years of relevant experience OR

• A first-level university degree (Bachelor’s degree or equivalent) preferably in Computer Science, Data Engineering, Engineering, Information Systems, Geospatial Information Systems (GIS), or a closely related field with 2 years of relevant experience.

• Demonstrated proficiency in Python scripting for geospatial data management, data processing, and workflow automation, preferably within ArcGIS and related geospatial environments.

Desired

• Certifications or training in data quality management, data governance frameworks, or geospatial technologies are a strong advantage.

• Relevant professional certifications in ArcGIS Pro.

• Industry-recognized certifications in data engineering or data architecture (e.g., Microsoft Azure Data Engineer, AWS Data Analytics, Google Professional Data Engineer).

Required

• Relevant experience is defined as experience in the field of data engineering, data pipelines, and data platform management, including modern data architecture or related areas.
• Experience designing and maintaining end-to-end data pipelines (ETL/ELT) and working with data lake, warehouse, or Lakehouse architecture.
• Proficiency in Python, SQL, and data processing frameworks (e.g., Spark or equivalent).
• Professional knowledge of ArcGIS, or comparable GIS software system.

Desired

• Experience in data quality management, including validation and monitoring of data quality dimensions (e.g., accuracy, completeness, timeliness).
• Professional experience with GeoAI techniques applied to geospatial data management
• Familiarity with UN or large-scale operational environments, supporting mission-critical systems.
• Good written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to document analytical workflows and communicate technical findings clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Professional experience working on geospatial data processing environments.

• UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes.
• UNOPS will at no stage of the recruitment process request candidates to make payments of any kind.
• Applications to vacancies must be received before midnight Copenhagen time (CET) on the closing date of the announcement. Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the selection process, which may include various assessments.
• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of a wide range of nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. We strive to sustain and strengthen this diversity, fostering an inclusive working environment where all personnel are treated with respect and have equal access to opportunities.
• UNOPS evaluates all applications based on the skills, qualifications and experience outlined in the vacancy announcement. We are committed to a fair and transparent selection process and welcome diverse perspectives, including those of women, indigenous and racialized communities, individuals of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations, and persons with disabilities.
• We are committed to enabling all candidates to perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require support or reasonable accommodation to complete any assessment, please inform our human resources team upon receiving your invitation.
• UNOPS has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment, and other forms of abusive conduct, including discrimination, abuse of authority, and harassment. To uphold these standards, background checks are conducted for all final candidates to help ensure that individuals with a history of such conduct are not hired. By applying for a position with UNOPS, candidates acknowledge and consent to these verification processes.
  

• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post.
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few mandatory courses (they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here.
• For more details about the contract types, please click here.
• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda.
• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.